Corporal Johnnie M. Rivas , Comanche
US Army, World War II
Company B, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment
82nd Airborne Division (the All-American Division)
Killed in Action on June 6, 1944

CPL Rivas was from the Chickasha area and was the first known Comanche to be killed in action while serving in the United states Armed Forces. He entered the US Army on October 1, 1942 and was an Infantryman. Prior to shipment overseas, CPL Rivas trained at Fort Benning, Georgia, Camp Blanding Florida, and Coral Camp, North Carolina. On Christmas Day, 1943, his unit sailed from Camp Shanks, New York with a brief stop in Iceland before porting in Belfast, Ireland. Two months later, the 82nd moved to the outskirts of Nottingham, England where they trained for the invasion of Normandy. It was during the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during Operation Neptune, that CPL Rivas and his unit parachuted behind enemy lines between the Douve and Merderet Rivers in Normandy, France. He was killed during heavy fighting near the cities of Cherbourg and Carentan, France. A War Department telegram to his family, "Reported him missing in action - later they declared him dead." A soldier from his unit told family members "He took a direct hit from a German T-88 artillery gun." CPL Rivas received the Purple Heart Medal; the Good Conduct Medal; the European-Africa-Middle Eastern Medal; the World War II Victory Medal, Parachutists Wings and Honorable Service Lapel Button. CPL Rivas had two brothers serve during World War II, Louis, in the Pacific Theater and later in Korean War and Cid, who served stateside. CPL Rivas is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery St. Laurent-sur-Mer, France and will forever be 22 years old (DOB September 29, 1921).